Mobile radiography device

ABSTRACT

A mobile type radiography apparatus having a truck movable on a floor, an X-ray control unit mounted on the truck, a first supporting arm having two branches supporting an X-ray generator and an X-ray image reception device at mutually opposite positions to sandwich a subject between the X-ray generator and the X-ray image reception device, an arm supporting mechanism having a second arm extending toward an outside of the branches of the first supporting arm and supporting the first supporting arm so as to be movable. A supporting pole mechanism is mounted on the truck so as to extend upwardly therefrom and an arm motion mechanism is located between the arm supporting mechanism and the supporting pole mechanism for linearly supporting the arm supporting mechanism so as to enable movement of the first supporting arm in horizontal directions perpendicular to longitudinal directions of the second arm.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a mobile type radiography apparatus includingan X-ray apparatus mounted on a moving truck to perform fluoroscopyand/or radiography by transporting the X-ray apparatus into a surgeryroom, and especially to a mobile type radiography apparatus suitable forperforming examination or treatment by inserting a catheter into anobject to be examined under observation of image.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The above mobile type radiography apparatus is a fluoroscopic andradiographic system capable of fluoroscopy or radiography forexamination or surgery support by transporting the apparatus to asurgery room with a moving truck. In this system, an X-ray tube device(most of them are a mono-tank type integrally formed so as to include ahigh voltage generator and an X-ray collimator) is mounted on one end ofa semi-circle type arm, i.e. so-called C-arm. An X-ray image receptiondevice including, for example an image intensifier (hereinafter referredto as I.I.) and a television (TV) camera, is mounted on another end ofthe C-arm. The X-ray tube device and the X-ray image reception deviceare mounted on the C-arm so as to face each other for balancing theweight to acquire smooth and free motion of the X-ray tube device andthe X-ray image reception device can be properly registered with animaging part of the subject.

In the conventional mobile type radiography apparatus, a C-arm motionmechanism for registering the X-ray tube device and the X-ray imagereception device supported by the C-arm with a part of subject subjectedto fluoroscopy or radiography has a C-arm vertical motion mechanism formoving the C-arm and the X-ray tube device and the X-ray image receivingdevice, both supported by the C-arm (hereinafter referred to as anentire C-arm) in the vertical directions, a revolving mechanism forrotating the center of the entire C-arm around a rotation axis, of whichdirection is perpendicular to the longitudinal axial direction of thesubject, a C-arm circular motion mechanism for rotating the C-arm alongthe arc, an C-arm swing mechanism for driving the entire C-arm to swingin the horizontal direction around the vertical motion axis, a C-armfront/back motion mechanism for forward and backward driving a centralportion of the entire C-arm in the directions perpendicular to thelongitudinal axial direction of the subject.

Although the mobile type radiography apparatus is most frequently usedin the field of orthopedic surgery, it is also used in other fieldsbecause of their convenient movable feature advantageous for both offluoroscopy and radiography.

For example, the mobile type radiography apparatus is used also inangiography's field of head. Moreover, it is used in a treatment withoutincision to the body of the subject under an X-ray image observation(i.e. so-called Interventional Radiology, hereinafter referred to asIVR).

Such examination and treatment are to examine a thrombus or acontraction rate of vessels in a head, and to treat by dissolving thethrombus and enlarging contracted vessels. Therefore, it is necessary toinsert a catheter for injecting a contrast medium and a solution fordissolving thrombus to the head vessel, and for inserting an instrumentfor enlarging the contracted vessels smoothly into the diseased part ofthe head while observing X-ray image.

In this case, it is necessary that the X-ray tube device and the X-rayimage reception device supported by the C-arm are appropriatelyregistered with the subject such that a fluoroscopic image of thecatheter is displayed inside a monitor to catch the traveling of thecatheter for guiding the catheter to the diseased part while identifyingthe location of the catheter with the mobile type radiography apparatus.This positioning method in a conventional apparatus will be explained inreference of FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b).

FIG. 4(a) is a perspective view showing relationship between the entireC-arm and the subject when the X-ray tube device and the X-ray imagereception device are registered at a catheter inserting point O₁ at atime of inserting a catheter from a vessel of heart.

First, a subject is laid with its back on a surgery bed. Then, the truckis positioned such that the C-arm of the X-ray device surrounds thesubject on the surgery bed between the X-ray tube device 12 and X-rayimage reception device 13 and a catheter inserting point O₁ is locatedbetween X-ray tube device 12 and X-ray reception device 13. In use of aC-arm vertical motion mechanism, a center of X-ray irradiating field ofthe X-ray tube device is registered to coincide with the point O₁. Thisregistration is performed by properly using a revolving mechanism, acircular motion mechanism, a front/back motion mechanism in addition tothe vertical motion mechanism. Point O₀ in FIG. 4(a) designates a centerof swinging axis of the C-arm swing mechanism for swinging the entireC-arm from left to right in the horizontal directions, and reference Rdesignates a radius of the swinging locus.

Next, when a doctor inserts the tip of catheter from point O₁ in FIG.4(a) to point O₂ in FIG. 4(a) or FIG. 4(b), being a diseased part(target of the treatment) of subject 21, the C-arm is moved by its swingmotion under observation of fluoroscopic image of the catheter with theabove C-arm swing mechanism. Then X-ray tube device 12 and X-ray imagereception device 13, which are installed in the C-arm, are moved topoint O₃ in FIG. 4(b) along a circumference of swinging radius R.However, the location of point O₃ differs from the location of targetpoint O₂ by ΔL. Therefore, the correction of location is required asmuch.

Thus using the C-arm front/back motion mechanism, the location of theentire C-arm is moved from point O₃ to point O₂, and the location of ΔLis corrected so that an irradiation center of X-ray tube device 12corresponds with the target point O₂.

Another positioning method is to register by moving the truck of C-armin pursuit of traveling of the catheter tip from point O₁ to point O₂.However, because the weight of the entire apparatus mounted on thistruck is 200 kg or more including the truck itself, it is hard toregister by moving the truck (especially in a case where an operator isfemale). Either, in the case where the truck is moved to the smalldiseased part of the head vessels, sufficient accuracy of theregistration is scarcely obtained. Therefore, the final and delicateregistration should be conducted with the C-arm swing mechanism and theC-arm front/back motion mechanism.

As described, in the registration using the front/back motion or thecombination of the swing mechanism and the front/back motion mechanism,a substantial time is necessary for the registration, whereby a time forfluoroscopy is elongated and an exposed amount of X-ray to a patient isincreased.

Since the conventional mobile type radiography apparatus is designed soas to be used for orthopedic surgery as described above, an operationunit of the apparatus is placed on the top of the X-ray control unit,mounted on the truck. The arrangement of the operation unit is far awayfrom an interconnecting line between the X-ray tube device and the X-rayimage reception device. In a case of orthopedic surgery, even if theoperation unit is located away from the line, there is no operationalproblem as long as the location of the X-ray tube device and the X-rayimage reception device are not changed after these devices are oncepositioned for radiography. But when the tip of catheter is chased forimaging as in the above IVR, because the operation units has to beoperated frequently, there is a problem that the unit is operated withdifficulty when the control unit is positioned far away.

Furthermore, in the conventional mobile type radiography device, a cablefor connecting the X-ray tube device with X-ray image reception deviceinstalled in the C-arm were wired on the outside of the C-arm to keepslack for enabling the C-arm rotation. Accordingly, there is a risk thatthe cable possibly is an obstacle to footstep of a doctor when he or sheperforms an IVR method in use of the mobile type radiography device,because the cable moves on a floor of surgery room when the apparatus ismoved along with the moving of catheter tip.

The first object of the present invention is to provide a mobile typeradiography apparatus suitable for performing an IVR method in referenceto the above problems.

The second object of the present invention is to provide a mobile typeradiography apparatus capable of performing fluoroscopy while chasing acatheter tip inserted in and moving through a subject to be examinedwhen a doctor performs an IVR method.

The third object of the present invention is to provide a mobile typeradiography apparatus having an operation unit suitable for performingan IVR method.

The forth object of the present invention is to provide a mobile typeradiography apparatus, wherein a cable connecting an X-ray tube devicewith an X-ray image reception device is not obstacle to a doctor whoperforms an IVR method.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To solve the above object in the present invention, the mobile typeradiography apparatus comprises a C-arm motion mechanism for linearlymoving an entire C-arm in a longitudinal direction of a surgery bedunder a state that a moving truck is positioned at a predeterminedposition with respect to the surgery bed; an operation unit arranged ina position where a doctor or the like can operate this when he or shestands in the vicinity of the C-arm; a cable for connecting an X-raytube device with an X-ray image reception device, which cableaccommodated in an inside of the C-arm; and a cable handling mechanismcapable of respectively winding up and drawing out cables connected tothe X-ray tube device and the X-ray image reception device in accordancewith a circular motion of the C-arm.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a C-arm motion mechanism ofthe mobile type radiography apparatus according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A—A in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the C-arm motion mechanism.

FIG. 4 is a view for explaining a problem caused when a catheter tip ischased by a C-arm swing mechanism.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating an external view of an entiremobile type radiography apparatus according to an embodiment in thepresent invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a cover covering a top surface of C-armmotion mechanism in an exploded state.

FIG. 7 is a view for explaining a positional relation between a mainframe and an operation unit when a C-arm is moved in directions of thetop to the bottom, of the left to right, and of the front to the back.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view for explaining a positional relation amonga mobile type radiography apparatus, a bed, and a subject to beexamined.

FIG. 9 is a view for explaining an arrangement of an operation panel inan operation unit.

FIG. 10 is a view for explaining an arrangement placement and a displayof operation buttons in symmetrically arranged operation panel portionson the panel shown in FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is a view for explaining an arrangement and a display ofoperation buttons positioned on a protruding portion of the panel shownin FIG. 9.

FIG. 12 is a view for explaining an arrangement and a display ofoperation buttons in an operation panel disposed in the C-arm supportingpart.

FIG. 13 is a view for explaining entire composition of a cable handlingmechanism of a mobile type radiography apparatus according to theembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view taken along line B—B in FIG. 13.

FIG. 15 is a view for illustrating a cable handling mechanism in theconventional mobile type radiography apparatus.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, a mobile type radiography apparatus according to thepresent invention will be described in detail in reference of thefigures. FIG. 1 illustrates an interior structure of the mobile typeradiography apparatus according to the present invention in a state thatits cover is removed. As shown in FIG. 1, the mobile type radiographyapparatus comprises X-ray tube device 12, X-ray image reception device13 having X-ray television device including I.I., C-arm portion 11 forsupporting X-ray tube device 12 and X-ray image reception device 13respectively at its ends, registering mechanism portion 100 (C-armmotion mechanism portion) for registering X-ray tube apparatus 12 andX-ray image reception device 13 at various fluoroscopic or imagingpositions of the subject to be examined by moving the entire C-arm,comprising X-ray tube device 12, X-ray image reception device 13, andC-arm 11 as described above, and a main frame 15 accommodating a highvoltage generator for generating a high voltage to be applied to theX-ray tube of the X-ray tube device and an X-rays control part or thelike, controlling start and stop of X-ray irradiation generated by anX-ray source and X-ray irradiating conditions, and truck 17 havingcasters 18 enabling movement of the entire C-arm and registeringmechanism portion 100 and main frame.

A mobile type X-ray TV apparatus for surgery according to the presentinvention includes the following motion mechanisms for respectivelyregistering X-ray tube device 12 and X-ray image reception device 13 bymoving the C-arm to various fluoroscopic or imaging positions.

Next, the composition and motion of these motion mechanisms will bedescribed in detail in reference of FIG. 1 to FIG. 3. Mean while, FIG. 2is a cross-sectional view taken along line A—A in mechanism portion 100shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 shows a plan view of mechanism 100 in FIG. 1.

(1) C-arm Vertical Motion Mechanism

The C-arm vertical motion mechanism includes main pole 1 for registeringthe center of X-ray irradiating field from X-ray tube device 12 with afluoroscopic and imaging position of a subject and for lifting up anddown the entire C-arm to set a distance between the focus of the X-raytube accommodated in an interior of X-ray tube device 12 and thesubject, screw 20 located inside the main pole 1, motor 25 being a powersource for lifting up and down the entire C-arm, pinion 26 fixed to anoutput axis of motor 25 to transmit the rotating force of it, and gear27 for reducing the revolution speed of motor 25 through pinion 26 andfor transmitting rotating force generated by motor 25 to screw 20.

Main pole 1 ascends when screw 20 is rotated (clockwise revolution whenreviewed from gear 27), and main pole 1 descends when screw 20 isrotated in the reverse direction (directed by arrow g).

Ascent and descent of the C-arm by the mechanism are performed byoperating an ascending switch and a descending switch which are arrangedin an operation unit to be described below. The C-arm ascends when theascending switch is closed. The C-arm descends when the descendingswitch is closed. When the ascending switch is closed, motor 25 rotatesin the counter-clockwise direction. Revolution force is transmitted frompinion 26 to gear 27, further from gear 27 to screw 20. Screw 20 isengaged with a female screw (not shown) formed inside main pole 1. Screw20 rotates in the advancing direction, main pole 1 ascends along withthe C-arm. On the other hand, in order to descend the C-arm, thedescending switch is closed. Then, motor 25 revolves in the clockwisedirection, and the revolution force is transmitted from pinion 26 togear 27 and further from gear 27 to screw 20, whereby screw 20 rotatesin a direction adverse to the ascending direction, and main pole 1descends to simultaneously fall the C-arm.

(2) C-arm Revolution Mechanism

A C-arm revolution mechanism includes horizontal rotation bearing 9supported by a shaft formed in agreement with C-arm front/back motionaxis 8, C-arm supporting portion 10 for revolving in the direction ofarrow in the figure, the C-arm supporting portion being integrallyformed with this horizontal rotation bearing 9, screw shaft 35 forming alock mechanism for fixing the revolution of C-arm at a revolving angledetermined by registration, and handle 36 fixed to screw shaft 35.

The C-arm revolution motion in the mechanism is such that screw shaft 35is released by rotating handle 36 of a lock mechanism located inhorizontal rotation bearing 9 to release pressure of a tip of screwshaft 35 on the shaft for freeing the fixation of the horizontalrotation bearing; and the C-arm is revolved by manually pressing handle16 formed on the C-arm or vicinity thereof in the direction of arrow ain the figure. After registering the C-arm by revolving the C-arm by apredetermined degree, handle 36 is rotated in the reverse direction, andthe C-arm is fixed so as not to revolve by said screw shaft 35 of saidrock mechanism.

(3) C-arm Circular Motion Mechanism

A C-arm circular motion mechanism includes C-arm support part 10explained in the above C-arm revolution motion mechanism, C-arm 11,C-arm guide mechanism (not shown) formed in C-arm supporting portion 11,and a lock mechanism formed in C-arm supporting portion 10. The lockmechanism for this circular motion includes cam 30 rotatably attached toC-arm supporting portion 10 through shaft 33 as shown in FIG. 2, and padmember 32 for generating braking force for stopping motion of C-arm 11,the pad member being urged by spring 31 to push C-arm 11 at its tip end.

The C-arm circular motion in the mechanism is such that the tip of pad32 is detached from C-arm 11 by rotating cam 30 around shaft 33 in thedirection of arrow in FIG. 2; and C-arm 11 is moved along a circular arcin the direction of arrow b while manually holding handle 16 or vicinitythereof. After finishing setting an X-ray tube device and an X-ray imagereception device at an imaging angle, cam 30 is rotated in the reversedirection, and the lock mechanism is activated.

(4) C-arm Swing Mechanism

Although C-arm swing mechanism is not illustrated in detail in thefigure, it includes a swing shaft formed in an upper portion of mainpole 1 so as to be in agreement with a central axis of the main pole, abearing box formed inside base 2 of left/right motion mechanism to bedescribed below, a bearing accommodated in the bearing box, and a lockmechanism including screw 35 and handle 36, both located in a part ofbase 2.

In thus constructed C-arm swing mechanism, screw shaft 35 for lockingmovement between the above swing shaft and base 2 is released byrotating with handle 36. Accordingly, by pressing handle 16 or vicinitythereof, C-arm 11 can be revolved in the direction of arrow e around thecentral axis of main pole 1.

(5) C-arm Front/back Motion Mechanism

C-arm front/back motion mechanism includes housing 6, four pairs ofbearing 7 for front/back motion to guide front/back motion axis 8disposed in the interior of housing 6, and a lock mechanism for lockingtraveling of front/back motion axis 8. The lock mechanism includes screwaxis 35 and handle 36, wherein the member for receiving screw shaft 35is located inside housing 6.

In the above described front/back motion mechanism, lock of front/backmotion shaft 8 is released by rotating to relax screw shaft 35 locatedon an upper surface of housing 6 with handle 26, and C-arm 11 is movedin the front/back direction of arrow c by pushing handle 16 installed ona side surface of C-arm 11 or vicinity thereof. Further, a minutefront/back motion may be realized such that a rack is formed on thefront/back shaft; a rotational shaft is formed in housing 6; and apinion is attached to the shaft to enable manual rotation of therotational shaft.

Although, in the above, the C-arm revolution mechanism, the C-armcircular motion mechanism, the C-arm swing mechanism, and the C-armfront/back motion mechanism have been explained so that these aremanually operated, all of these may be electrically operated. Theelectrical operation can be achieved by appropriately using a motor, agear mechanism, a screw mechanism, and a belt mechanism.

Hereinafter, a C-arm left/right motion mechanism according to thepresent invention will be described in detail.

(6) C-arm Left/right Motion Mechanism

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the entire C-arm and the C-arm left/rightmotion mechanism, obtained by viewing in the downward verticaldirection. In FIGS. 2 and 3, numerical reference 2 designates aleft/right motion base. Numerical reference 3 designates a pair oflinear guide rails fixed on an upper surface of base 2 with apredetermined distance. Numerical reference 4 designates a rollingelement engaged with a guide groove formed in the longitudinal directionof guide rail 3 so as to rotate and be in contact with the guide rail.Numerical reference 5 designates a pair of housings engaged with guiderail 3 through rolling elements 4 and holding the rolling elements 4. Alinear motion guide includes guide rail 3 and rolling elements 4, andhousing 5. The moving direction of the linear motion guide are set inthe horizontal direction perpendicular to front/back motion axis 8 ofthe C-arm front/back motion mechanism.

The C-arm left/right motion mechanism has a lock mechanism in one of thehousings as in FIG. 3. The lock mechanism includes screw shaft 35 andhandle 36, wherein rotating handle 36□ screw shaft 35 pushes a side ofthe guide rail to generate stopping force. This function is the same asthat in the above described various mechanisms.

In this C-arm left/right motion mechanism, by rotating handle 36 torelease screw shaft 35 located in housing 5, lock between housing 5 andguide rail 3 is canceled. Under this condition, by pushing handle 16shown in FIG. 1 in the direction d shown in the figure, rolling elements4 held in the grooves are in contact with guide rail 3 and housing 5 androtate, whereby housing 5 travels on and along guide rail 3. Thus theentire C-arm is moved in the horizontal directions. At this time, sinceguide rail 3 and housing 5 are in contact with the rotating rollingelements, force for operation can be small.

Next, an example of utilizing the remarkable effect of the C-armleft/right motion being the characteristic of the present invention willbe described. The example is to insert a catheter at around a hearttoward a diseased part of the head while observing the catheter to checkand cure head vessels. Specifically, the example is to insert thecatheter from point O₁ in FIG. 3 to the vessel of a subject, and toguide the catheter to the diseased part of the head vessels, i.e. pointO₂ under observation of fluoroscopic image. In this case, the C-arm isregistered according to the following procedure.

At first, the truck of the mobile type radiography apparatus is moved sothat a subject to be examined in the spine body position on an operatingtable is interposed between the X-ray tube device and the X-ray imagereception device, both supported by the C-arm, and at the positioncaster 18 for moving a surgical mobile type X-ray TV apparatus islocated to prevent its movement. In this registration, the C-arm shouldbe moved toward the viewer's side of FIG. 1 by the left/right motionmechanism, and roughly registered at the catheter inserting position.This is because a catheter is introduced from the heart of a subject tothe head, and the C-arm surrounds the subject on the right side FIG. 3.In other words, it is necessary to change an initial setting position ofthe left/right motion mechanism depending on the inserting direction ofthe C-arm and the introducing direction of the chased catheter withrespect to the subject, whereby there is an anxiety that an enoughleft/right motion stroke to chase the catheter is not maintained withoutkeeping the stroke at the time of initial setting.

Next, the catheter is inserted into the subject. The X-ray center fromX-ray tube device 12 is registered so as to be in agreement with pointO₁ by adjusting to move and/or rotate the C-arm vertical motionmechanism, the C-arm revolution mechanism, the C-arm circular motionmechanism, the C-arm swing mechanism, the C-arm front/back motionmechanism and/or the C-arm left/right motion mechanism while observingfluoroscopic image of the tip position of the catheter inserted in thesubject. Thus the preparation for chasing the catheter tip of the mobiletype radiography apparatus is done. In addition, in this preparation, itis desirable that the C-arm left/right motion mechanism is set in adirection parallel to the axis of the subject to be examined. Because anX-ray irradiation field has an unignorable size, a catheter can bechased only by operating the C-arm left/right motion mechanism withoutoperating motion mechanisms other than the left/right motion mechanism.

Next, the catheter is advanced to target point O₂ in the head vesselshown in FIG. 3. At this time, X-ray is constantly irradiated inaccordance with the advance of catheter to observe the top of catheter.Further in use of the C-arm left/right motion mechanism, the cathetertip is chased while matching it with the X-ray irradiation center bylinearly operating X-ray tube device 12 and X-ray image reception device13 or operating the other motion mechanisms when necessary to finallyguide the catheter tip to point O₂.

Further, the diseased part is checked and cured under a state that X-raytube device 12 and X-ray image reception device 13 are registered withpoint O₂. Furthermore, when the target position is required to bechanged, X-ray tube device 12 and X-ray image reception device 13 areappropriately registered with the changed target using theabove-mentioned mechanism, and check and cure are done.

As described, by using the C-arm left/right motion mechanism accordingto the present invention, it is possible to linearly move the C-arm tothe target position. Therefore, when the X-ray tube device and the X-rayimage reception device are moved along a periphery of radius R of theswing motion by the C-arm swing motion, it is unnecessary to correct adifference between the target point and the moved point by operating theC-arm front/back motion mechanism, as required in the conventionalmobile type radiography apparatus having the C-arm swing mechanism.Therefore, in the present invention, the registration time is shortenedto thereby shorten the fluoroscopy time and reduce the exposed X-rayamount.

In addition, when the target position is O₃, the use C-arm swingmechanism occasionally works better than the C-arm left/right motionmechanism. If the C-arm left/right motion mechanism is appropriatelycombined with the conventional positioning mechanism, or the C-armleft/right moving mechanism according to the present invention isadopted, an unnecessary positioning mechanism among the conventionalpositioning mechanisms may be omitted. The above positioning mechanismscan be effectively combined in accordance with a purpose of check andcure, and a diseased part. Although, in the embodiment of the presentinvention, the example of using the compact rolling bearings providedwith a small moving resistance in the C-arm left/right motion mechanismhas been described, the present invention is not limited thereto, and aslide bearing, a fluid bearing, a magnetic floating bearing or the likecan be used.

Further, in the above motion mechanism, although the method of fixing amotion shaft or a motion member by a screw, i.e., locking mechanism, itis possible to adopt a method of fixing the motion shaft to a bearing bya belt or a gear or a method of releasing pressure generated by anelectromagnetic magnet and a spring. Further, in the embodiment of thepresent invention, although the example using I.I. and TV camera as theX-ray image reception apparatus is described, a semiconductor-type flatpanel 2-dimensional X-ray detector, recently attracting attention may beused, wherein the type of X-ray image reception apparatus according tothe present invention is not specifically limited.

As described, although by providing the C-arm left/right motionmechanism in the mobile type radiography apparatus, capability ofchasing the catheter is improved in the case of using the mobile typeradiography apparatus in the IVR method, the present invention also hasa merit of improving operability of using the mobile type radiographyapparatus in the IVR method by considering an operation panel located onthe conventional apparatus. Hereinbelow, an explanation will be given.The invention described below is an example of enabling all-directionalmovement of the C-arm, wherein a motion of various motion mechanisms ofC-arm is controlled by an operation button in an operation unit for themotion mechanism of an electromotive type or by a manual operationthrough a motion grip.

FIG. 5 is an outside view of an apparatus constructed to have a coverand an operation unit on the mobile type radiography device having themechanisms shown in FIG. 1. In FIG. 5, numerical reference 401designates a front/back motion cover; numerical reference 403 designatesa C-arm motion grip; numerical reference 404 designates a truck motiongrip; numerical reference 601 designates a truck brake pedal; numericalreference 602 designates a pedal axis; numerical reference 603designates a C-arm rotating grip; numerical reference 604 designates asupport portion cover; numerical reference 605-607 designate operationpanels, numerical reference 608 designates a bulge portion; numericalreference 609 designates a protruding portion; numerical reference 610is an emergency button, and other codes are the same as those in FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 6, a cover for covering registering drive mechanism 100includes front/back motion cover 401 and left/right motion cover 402(not shown). Left/right motion cover 402 is integrally combined withfront/back motion cover 401 at a position indicated by a broken lineinside front/back motion cover 401. Left/right motion cover 402 is fixedso as to support housing 2 of the bearing, engaged with guide rail 3forming the left/right motion mechanism of registering drive mechanism100 in the right/left directions. Further, front/back motion cover 401is fixed so as to support front/back motion shaft 8 forming thefront/back motion mechanism of the registering drive mechanism 100, andhousing 6 in the front and back direction.

Front/back motion cover 401, on which the operation unit to be describedbelow is mounted on an upper surface thereof, is connected to C-armsupporting portion 10 on its front surface so that a relative locationbetween front/back motion cover 401 and C-arm does not change along withC-arm motion. As shown in FIG. 6, front/back motion cover 401 issupported by the left/right motion mechanism and the front/back motionmechanism inside front/back motion cover 401 so that a relative positionbetween front/back motion cover 401 and up/down main pole 1 can bechanged.

Moving truck 17 has brake pedal 601 supported by pedal shaft 602. Brakepedal 601 is provided to fix the X-ray imaging apparatus when it is setto a predetermined position, wherein pedals 601 are symmetricallyarranged on the both sides of left and right at the rear part of movingtruck 17. When an operator such as a doctor or a technologist steps onbrake pedal 601, moving truck 17 is locked and caster 18 of moving truck17 is also locked to fix the apparatus. When braking pedal 601 isstepped again, the lock is released to enable move of the apparatus.Further, brake pedal 601 has a shape of turning around on sides ofmoving truck 17 for a purpose of facilitating steps from rear or bothsides of the apparatus. Furthermore, brake pedal 601 has, as indicatedby a broken line in FIG. 5, a face of bending portion 601′, bent at theright angle in the tip thereof inside main frame 15. The face appearsfrom a side of moving truck 17. The face of bending portion 601′ iscolored by a conspicuous color, different from the colors of main frame15 or truck 17, for example red or yellow. Thus operator such as adoctor or technologist can easily confirm a state that the entire X-rayimaging apparatus according to the present invention is fixed.

On main frame 15, grips 404 for moving truck is located on the right andleft side. Grip 404 is used when a doctor or a technologist moves theentire X-ray imaging apparatus. Because the entire apparatus has aconsiderable weight, it is hard for a powerless operator to manuallymove. It is possible to give an electromotive assisting mechanism (notshown) allowing such an operator to easily move the truck for thepurpose of facilitating the move. Further, grips 404 may be used onlyfor controlling the moving direction when the truck is completelyelectromotive. In this case, the electromotive mechanism is controlledby operation buttons located on an operation panel surface to bedescribed below. Further, although the shape of truck motion grip 404shown in FIG. 5 is different from those shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 4,wherein its shape can be arbitrarily determined. However, as shown inFIG. 5, if the shape of moving grip 404 is formed in a shape of D, theoperator can far more easily grip.

C-arm grips 603 are arranged on left and right sides of C-arm 11 in thevicinity of X-ray tube device 12 and X-ray image reception device 13 forthe revolution motion, the circular motion, and the swing motion of theentire C-arm. Thus by locating C-arm grip 603 at the four points on theleft and right sides of C-arm in the vicinity of X-ray tube device 12and X-ray image reception device 13, an operator such as a doctor or atechnologist can quickly move the entire C-arm in a desired directionfor registration by holding C-arm grip 603 even if the operation is inany position with respect to the X-ray imaging apparatus.

The operation unit is arranged on a top face of front/back motion cover401. The top face of front/back motion cover 401 is shaped like aspherical surface for the purpose of improving accessibility for theoperator to the operation unit from all the directions of front/back,left/right, and top/bottom. Cover 401 has protruding portion 609projecting to cover a rear end of front/back motion shaft 8 ofregistering drive mechanism 100, and a central part of the top face hasbulge portion 608 covering housing 6 of registering drive mechanism 100.

The operation unit located on the top face of front/back motion cover401 includes control panel 605 respectively having a plurality ofcontrol buttons on the left and right sides of bulge portion 608, twoemergency buttons 610 located at positions in the vicinity of thesecontrol panel 605, and operation panel 606 located at protruding portion609. The space among front/back motion cover 401 having the operationpart and C-arm supporting portion 10 for supporting C-arm 11 andhorizontal rotation shaft 9 is covered with supporting part cover 604 toconnect these. On both sides of supporting cover 604, control panel 607having C-arm moving operation button the same as the control buttonlocated in control panel 605, is disposed. Operation panel 607 isdisposed so that a doctor or a technologist can do operation the same asthose in operation panel 605 even when the operator is on a side of asubject but is apart from operation panel 605. Moreover, on the top faceof main frame 15 and on left and right sides thereof, rise controlbutton 611 and fall control button 612 are located for controllingrising up and falling down of the C-arm. Arrangement and functions ofoperation buttons arranged the operation panel 605-607, wherein thefunction of said rise control button 611 and fall control button 612will be described later. In the X-ray imaging apparatus according to theembodiment of the present invention described above, as the operationportion for controlling the traveling of C-arm is located on the topface of front/back motion cover 401, of which relative position withrespect to the supporting portion of C-arm 11 does not change, theoperation unit is always positioned at a predetermined distance from thesupporting portion of C-arm as a base point, whereby the doctor or thetechnologist can easily control.

On the both side faces of front/back motion cover 401, C-arm motion grip403 is located so as to turn from a front part of the cover to the sideface of protruding portion 609 such that C-arm motion grips 403 can beeasily grasped. This C-arm motion grips 403 are used for the verticalmotion, the front/back motion, and the left/right motion of the C-arm.If grips 403 are used to move the entire apparatus without locking abrake of truck, all power for moving the entire apparatus is applied tomain pole 1 in the lateral direction. By grasping C-arm motion grip 403and applying force in a desirable direction among top/bottom,front/back, and left/right directions, C-arm 11 moves in the desirabledirection. As previously described, it is possible to add theelectromotive assisting mechanism to substitute a completelyelectromotive mechanism for the grip to enable control by operationbutton in an operation panel.

In reference of FIG. 7, a positional relationship between the operationunit and the main frame will be described in a case where the entireC-arm is moved in the directions of top/bottom, left/right, front/back.FIG. 7(a) shows a state that the entire C-arm is upwardly moved. Whenmain pole 1 ascends, front/back motion cover 401 provided with theoperation unit is raised up, whereby the space between a bottom face offront/back motion cover 401 and main frame 15 is increased to exposemain pole 1. The vertical motion is performed by the C-arm verticalmotion mechanism, and the maximum distance of vertical motion is setabout 410 mm. The vertical motion distance is set an appropriate valuein response to the height of a subject on a bed, a distance between thesubject and an X-ray tube focus point of X-ray tube device, and distancebetween the object and an X-ray image reception device, and so on ateach time of use.

FIG. 7(b) shows a state that the entire C-arm is moved from the stateshown in FIG. 7(a) in the direction of arrow, i.e. the right directionwhen an operator stands against the C-arm. In this case, a position ofmain pole 1 with respect to the top face of main frame 15 does notchange, and front/back motion cover 401 moves in the right directionalong with C-arm, whereby a left half of the top face of main frame 15is exposed. FIG. 7(c) shows a state that the entire C-arm is leftwardmoved under a state that the entire C-arm is positioned at the lowestposition. Such a left/right motion is performed by the C-arm left/rightmotion mechanism, wherein the maximum distance of left/right motion isabout 350 mm. In other wards, the distance is ±75 mm with respect to anintermediate position of the left/right motion.

FIG. 7(d) shows a state that the entire C-arm is forwardly moved. Thefront/back motion is performed from any condition shown in FIG. 7(a) toFIG. 7(c), and performed by the C-arm front/back motion mechanism. Themaximum distance of this front/back motion is set about 200 mm.

Next, the revolution motion, the circular motion, and the swing motionof C-arm will be described. Because these motions are performed by theabove-described mechanisms, it will be described in reference of FIG. 8.The revolution motion is performed by the revolution mechanism explainedabove. In the example shown in FIG. 8, the revolution motion is used forthe purpose of introducing an X-ray flux irradiated from X-ray tubedevice 12 to X-ray image reception device 13 installed on the C-arm inan oblique direction with respect to the subject on the surfaceincluding the body axis of the subject. In the example shown in thefigure, it is possible to revolve the C-arm until the position where theX-ray tube device 12 is in contact with the subject or X-ray imagereception device 13 is in contact with the bottom face of the bed.

When the C-arm is moved so that X-ray imaging apparatus is positioned onthe head side of the subject, the C-arm can be revolved at the positionwhere X-ray tube device 12 and X-ray image reception device 13 arepositioned on the both sides of bed and the X-ray tube device reachesunder the bed. Thus a flux of X-ray can be irradiated in variousdirections, for example, from a side, or from a top or a bottom to thehead of the subject. To realize these modes of use, in the presentinvention, the C-arm can be revolved by an angle of about 280 degrees inthe clockwise direction (or the counterclockwise direction) and an angle100 degrees in the reverse direction thereof when an operator views theC-arm on the side of operation unit under a state that the X-ray tube isin the uppermost position. Thus, a range of about 380 degrees can betotally covered in the revolution direction, whereby overlapping organsand vessels in a subject can be observed by fluoroscopic imaging orradiographic imaging.

The swing motion is to swing the entire C-arm in the horizontaldirection of left/right around the center shaft of main pole 1, whereinthe swing motion is effectuated by the above-described C-arm swingmotion mechanism. Because, in the present invention, the swing motion isan aid of the left/right motion, it is unnecessary to provide a largeswing angle, and a small swing angle is sufficient. If the swing angleis increased, there is a danger that stability of the truck is lost.However, as in the present invention, by adding the left/right motion ofthe C-arm to reduce the swing, there is a merit that anti-fallingstability of the apparatus is enhanced.

Next, the operation panel in the operation unit will be described. FIG.9 is a drawing showing an arrangement of the operation panel on the topface of front/back motion cover 401. Further, FIGS. 10-12 explain anarrangement of the control buttons in the operation panel. In thecontrol panel described below, no control button for the C-arm swingmotion is provided. This is because a case where the exemplified as thepremise. Therefore, if it is judged that a swing mechanism isindispensable in constructing an apparatus, an operation button for theswing mechanism may be provided in its operation panel.

The control unit disposed on the top face of front/back motion cover 401includes operation panels 605 respectively having a plurality ofoperation buttons and symmetrically disposed left and of bulge portion608 of cover 401, emergency button 610 for stopping function of theentire apparatus in case of emergency, and operation panel 606 disposedon protruding portion 609 of cover 401. In operation panels 605,operation buttons for driving the C-arm and operation buttons forcontrolling the state of X-ray image reception device 13 are provided.In the operation panel 606 disposed in protruding portion 609, operationbuttons for controlling the state of X-ray tube device 12 and a displayportion for displaying the state of X-ray tube device 12 are disposed.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of the operation panel and the emergencybutton in the lower part of FIG. 9 showing the operation panels. Buttons1301 to 1303 are provided for locking and unlocking traveling of C-arm11, the buttons being respectively for the circular motion, therevolution motion, the front/back motion, and the left/right motion.When these buttons are repeatedly pushed, the locked and unlocked statesare repeated. The C-arm is freed from the motion mechanism allocated tothe button when that button is unlocked. The C-arm iselectro-magnetically locked with respect to the motion mechanismallocated to the button when that button is locked. In this case, thefront/back motion, the left/right motion, and the revolution motion,circular motion are manually performed or done so with electromotiveassistance, and only the vertical motion is electro-motively performed.

Buttons 1304 and 1305 are to rotate blades of X-ray aperture device(X-ray collimator) located inside X-ray tube device 12. While thebuttons are pushed, the collimator blades are rotated in the directionof arrow, displayed on the button. Buttons 1306 and 1307 are to closeand open the collimator blades. Button 1306 is for “closing”, and button1307 is for “opening”. Buttons 1308 and 1309 are to control the rotationof an examination image displayed on an image display (not shown),wherein while the buttons are pushed, the display image is rotated inthe direction of arrow displayed on the button. Buttons 1310 and 1311are iris buttons, wherein button 1310 is for “closing”, and button 1311is for “opening”. During the buttons are pushed, the iris continuouslymoves. Button 1312 is a zoom button having a function of changing afield of view.

Operation panel 606 located on bulge portion 609 is for displaying andcontrolling a state of X-ray tube device 12. As shown in FIG. 11, adisplay lamp, an operation button and so on are disposed in parts A toE. In part A, power supply lamp 1401 lighting while power is thrown inthe apparatus, and ready lamp 1402 (lamp indicating ready for X-rayirradiation) for indicating that X-ray irradiation is possible bynormally lighting 5 seconds after throwing in power, X-ray irradiationlamp 1403. lighting during an X-ray is irradiated (continuously lightingin fluoroscopy by X-ray pulse irradiation), temperature display device1404 for displaying a temperature of the X-ray tube, fluoroscopy button1405 for performing fluoroscopy when indirect (DR) technique isselected, are disposed.

Part B includes fluoroscopy integrating time display unit 1406 enablingdigital display of an integration time of fluoroscopy in a unit of 0.1minute and fluoroscopy integrated time resetting button 1407.Fluoroscopy integrated time resetting button 1407 is provided to clearthe integrated time and stops an alarm buzzer, whereby continuouslypushing it, an integrated irradiation time after throwing power in isdisplayed, and by further continuously pushing it, the integratedirradiation time is cleared.

Part C includes direct photographic technique selecting button 1408 forimaging with an X-ray irradiation by operating a hand-held switchwithout a DR connection (when this is selected, the X-ray condition iscontrolled in mAs), indirect photographic technique selecting button1409 for performing indirect photography (the exposure time is constant)by irradiating an X-ray with a DR foot switch, auto fluoroscopyselecting button 1410 for automatically adjusting the tube voltage by aKIBS signal from DRS, and manual fluoroscopy selecting button 1411 formanually setting the tube voltage for fluoroscopy.

Part D includes pulse fluoroscopy display device 1412 for displaying apulse fluoroscopy rate, fluoroscopic mode selection button 1413 forcyclically changing over among “fluoroscopy”, “pulse fluoroscopy”, and“boost fluoroscopy” on each push of the button. The pulse fluoroscopyrate is changed with a fluoroscopy tube current setting button to bedescribed later.

Part E includes tube voltage display device 14 for displaying thevoltage of X-ray tube, tube voltage setting device 1416 for increasingand decreasing the tube voltage by a unit of 1 kV and continuouslyswitching over (auto-repeating) its value when the button isstationarily pushed, fluoroscopy tube current/mAs display device 1417for displaying tube currents in fluoroscopy, pulse fluoroscopy andradiography, and fluoroscopy tube current/mAs setting button 1418 forincreasing and decreasing the tube current and a pulse ratio.

Next, operation panel 607 arranged on a side of cover 604 of the C-armsupporting portion will be described. As shown in FIG. 12, operationbuttons of C-arm 11 are located in operation panel 607. FIG. 12(a) showsoperation panel 607 when the C-arm is in an ordinary state (X-ray tubedevice 12 is on a top side). FIG. 12(b) shows operation panel 607 whenthe C-arm is reversed and X-ray tube device 12 is on a bottom side.Among operation buttons in operation panel 607, buttons 1301-1303 havethe same functions as those described in reference of FIG. 10. Inaddition to these buttons, operation panel 607 has operation buttons1501 and 1502 for controlling ascent and descent of the C-arm. Onoperation buttons 1501 and 1502, not only the main body, the truck andthe C-arm but also arrows indicating moving direction are illustrated.The above-mentioned emergency button may be located in an inside of orin a periphery of operation panel 607.

Since on the surface of the buttons disposed to the operation panelsdescribed above, illustrations showing the functions of the buttons areprinted, erroneous control is prevented.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, since a pluralityof operation panels are disposed on an upper portion of the C-armmotion, and the operation panel is disposed in the C-arm supportingportion, a doctor or a technologist or the like, who is performing anIVR method by a subject on a bed can easily move the C-arm, control theX-ray collimator, and control the iris of the X-ray image receptiondevice.

Next, a mechanism for handling cables connected to X-ray tube device 12and to X-ray image reception device 13 according to the presentinvention will be described. As previously described, in theconventional mobile type radiography apparatus, the cables are connectedto the X-ray controlling portion in the main body from X-ray tube device12 and X-ray image reception device 13 shown in FIG. 15 through theinterior of C-arm 11 after drawing outside C-arm 11 at around a middlebetween the both ends of C-arm 11, slacking a length corresponding to amotion of C-arm 11, and temporally fixing to the C-arm supportingportion. However, a high voltage cable connected to X-ray tube device 12is big and hard. Therefore, when a cable connected to X-ray imagereception device 13 is bundled up with the high voltage cable, the C-armus prevented from freely moving; the cables are apt to dirty by touchingon a floor of operating room; and the cables sometimes impede a doctor,a technologist, or the like by occupying his or her standing positions.

Technical solutions to the problems are disclosed Japanese UnexaminedUtility Model Publication JP-A-4-98835 and Japanese Unexamined PatentPublication PA-A-6-70918. In the cable handling mechanisms describedabove, a cable connected to an X-ray image reception device is detouredon a side of X-ray tube device toward an X-ray image reception device.Although the above problem can be solved by this cable handlingmechanism, it is further necessary to prevent noise generated by a highvoltage applied to an X-ray tube from emerging in an X-ray image. In theembodiment of the present invention, it is possible to realize a cablehandling mechanism, which is free from the above problem and influenceof noise on an image generated by a high voltage.

Hereinafter a cable handling mechanism for a mobile type radiographyapparatus according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 13illustrates an entire C-arm supported by C-arm supporting portion 10 anda cable winding mechanism of the cable handling mechanism.

In this apparatus, a cable for X-ray tube device 12 and a cable forX-ray image reception device are guided directly into C-arm supportingportion 10 through C-arm 11. Therefore, it is unnecessary to route thecable from one side of C-arm 11 to the other side. In C-arm supportingpart 10, a pair of winding mechanisms is built-in.

The winding mechanisms respectively include winding drum 311 or 312 forwinding cable 301 or 302, spiral pulley 321 or 322 coaxially attached todrum 311, 312. In reference of FIG. 14, i.e. a cross-sectional viewtaken along line A—A in FIG. 13, winding drums 311, 312 are a flat typeincluding winding drum, flanges 314 at both ends thereof and a hollowrotation shaft 315. Winding drum 313 is partly notched (not shown) toenable insertion of cable 301, 302 through the notch. In addition,spiral pulleys 321 and 322 are in a truncated cone shape, and arecoaxially fixed respectively to drum 311,312, wherein on the truncatedfaces, spiral groove 323 is formed. In this figure, one side of spiralpulleys 321 and 322 has a smaller radius, the other side has a largerradius. Spiral pulley 321 is arranged so that the large-diameter side isdirected to drum 311, spiral pulley 322 is arranged so that thesmall-diameter side is directed to drum 311. Wire rope 331 is woundaround both of spiral pulleys 311,312, so that these are interlocked.

Cable 301 to X-ray tube device 12 is wound around drum 313 of windingdrum 311 by several times. Cable 302 for X-ray image reception device 13is wound around drum 313 of winding drum 312 by several times. Thecables are respectively introduced into an inside of winding drumthrough the notch the drum, wound around the circumference of rotatingshaft 315 by several times, drawn into an inside of the rotating shaftthrough an insertion hole formed in rotation shaft 315, bundled, andtransferred to the X-ray control unit.

When cable 301 to X-ray tube device 12 is pulled out in the direction ofB (counterclockwise direction) in FIG. 13 by the circular motion ofC-arm 11, drum 311 is rotated in the clockwise direction; drum 312 isinterlocked with drum 311 to rotate in the clockwise direction forwinding and cable 302 to X-ray image reception device 13. At this time,the outer diameter of drum 311 including the cable becomes thinner bydrawing out the cable. On the other hand, the outer diameter of drum 312including the cable becomes thicker by winding the cable. Therefore, thespiral pulleys are mutually arranged on the opposite sides. Providedthat the equation of D1:D=D3:D4 is established in designing the cablehandling mechanism, where D1 represents the radius of the spiral pulley;D2 represents the diameter of wire rope 331; D3 represents the diameterof the winding drum; and D4 represents the diameter of the cable, a pairof the drums are relatively easily synchronized.

Meanwhile, it is necessary to assemble the components of the cablehandling mechanism carefully because there is a possibility of causing asmall synchronization error by an assembling error or the like. Slack ofwire rope 331 being one reason of the synchronization error, can alwaysbe removed by using spring 341 and pulley 342 as shown in FIGS. 13 and14.

As described above, according to the embodiment of the presentinvention, the cable to the X-ray tube device and the cable to X-rayimage reception device are built in the C-arm, whereby the appearance ofthe apparatus is improved; cleanliness of the cables is maintained; andthe cables do not prevent work of a doctor or the like. Further, becausethe cables are directly wired from a center portion of the C-arm to therespective connecting points, noise caused by a high voltage scarcelyapplied to the cable to X-ray image reception device, whereby a goodX-ray image is obtained.

Although the preferred embodiment according to the present invention hasbeen described, it is needless to say that various modifications areapplicable in light of the scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A mobile type radiography apparatus comprising; atruck movable on a floor; an X-ray control unit mounted on said truck; afirst supporting arm having two branches supporting an X-ray generatorand an X-ray image reception device at mutually opposite positions tosandwich a subject between said X-ray generator and said X-ray imagereception device; an arm supporting mechanism having a second armextending toward an outside of the branches of said first supporting armand supporting said first supporting arm so as to be movable; asupporting pole mechanism mounted on said truck so as to extend upwardlytherefrom; and an arm motion mechanism located between said armsupporting mechanism and said supporting pole mechanism for linearlysupporting said arm supporting mechanism so as to enable movement ofsaid first supporting arm in horizontal directions perpendicular tolongitudinal directions of said second arm.
 2. A mobile type radiographyapparatus according to claim 1, wherein said first supporting arm has ashape of a C and is a C-arm.
 3. A mobile type radiography apparatusaccording to claim 2, wherein said arm supporting mechanism comprises aC-arm circular motion mechanism for moving said C-arm in circulardirections of said C-arm and a C-arm revolution mechanism for rotatingsaid C-arm around a center axis of said second arm.
 4. A mobile typeradiography apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said arm supportingmechanism further comprises a C-arm front/back motion mechanism formoving said second arm in directions along a center axis thereof.
 5. Amobile type radiography apparatus according to claim 1, wherein saidsupporting pole mechanism comprises a vertical motion mechanism formoving said C-arm in vertical directions.
 6. A mobile type radiographyapparatus according to claim 1, wherein a stroke of said arm motionmechanism is 350 mm.
 7. A mobile radiography device comprising: a truckmovable on a floor; a first supporting arm having two branchessupporting an X-ray generator and an X-ray image reception device atmutually opposite positions to sandwich a subject between said X-raygenerator and said X-ray image reception device; an arm supportingmechanism having a second arm extending toward an outside of thebranches of said first supporting arm and supporting said firstsupporting arm so as to be movable; a supporting pole mechanism mountedon said truck to extend upwardly therefrom; and an arm motion mechanismlocated between said arm supporting mechanism and said supporting polemechanism and movably supporting said arm supporting mechanism inhorizontal directions perpendicular to longitudinal directions of saidsecond arm so as to enable movement of said arm supporting mechanism inthe horizontal directions; a main body mounted on said truck and havingan X-ray control unit therein; and an operation unit located over saidarm motion mechanism to cover said arm motion mechanism, said operationunit having a plurality of operation panels.
 8. A mobile typeradiography apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said operation unithas two operation panels having common functions to enable operation onboth sides of said supporting arm.
 9. A mobile type radiographyapparatus according to claim 7, wherein said operation unit has at leastone operation panel having an operation device for controlling motion ofsaid arm motion mechanism.
 10. A mobile type radiography apparatusaccording to claim 9, wherein said operation device disposed in saidoperation panel has a mark showing a moving direction of said firstsupporting arm.
 11. A mobile type radiography apparatus according toclaim 7, wherein said main body has a traveling grip in a travelingdirection of said truck, and said operation unit has an operation panellocated therein so as to enable operation at a traveled position of saidtruck.
 12. A mobile type radiography apparatus comprising: a truckmovable on a floor; an X-ray control unit being mounted on said truck; afirst arm having a shape of a C which is a C-arm and supporting an X-raygenerator and an X-ray image reception device at mutually oppositepositions to sandwich a subject between said X-ray generator and saidX-ray image reception device; a C-arm supporting mechanism having asecond arm extending toward an outside of said C-arm and supporting saidC-arm so as to be movable; a supporting pole mechanism mounted on saidtruck to extend upwardly therefrom; and a C-arm motion mechanism locatedbetween said C-arm supporting mechanism and said pole supportingmechanism, and movably supporting said C-arm supporting mechanism inhorizontal directions perpendicular to longitudinal directions of saidsecond arm so as to enable movement of said C-arm supporting mechanismin the horizontal direction; and a cable handling mechanism located in aC-arm supporting portion of said C-arm supporting mechanism for windingone of cables, the cables being connected from said X-ray control unitrespectively to said X-ray generator and to said X-ray image receptiondevice, and for drawing out another cable in response to a circularmotion of said C-arm.
 13. A mobile type radiography apparatus accordingto claim 12, wherein said cables extending from said X-ray generator andsaid X-ray image reception device to said cable handling mechanism arewired along said C-arm and are directly inserted in said cable handlingmechanism.
 14. A mobile type radiography apparatus according to claim12, wherein said cable handling mechanism has a pair of cable windingdrums respectively corresponding to said cables, a plurality of groovesare formed on circumferences of said drums for winding said cables, saiddrums are rotatably supported by a hollow shaft, and said cables areintroduced from circumferences of said drums to an inside of said hollowshaft so that circumference sides are connected to said X-ray generatorand said X-ray image reception device.
 15. A mobile type radiographyapparatus according to claim 14, wherein the diameters of said groovesformed in said winding drums gradually change in an axis direction ofsaid drums.
 16. A mobile type radiography apparatus according to claim14, wherein said pair of cable winding drums are rotated so that a cablewinding amount of one of said cables and a cable drawing amount ofanother cable are the same.
 17. A mobile type radiography apparatusaccording to claim 16, wherein said pair of cable winding drums areinterlocked to be rotated in a common direction at a common rate whensaid C-arm is subjected to a circular motion.